1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to agricultural seed planting equipment and, more particularly, to a system for quickly and effectively emptying the entire contents of the metering hopper of such a planter by bypassing the normal, slower operating metering mechanism of the machine and delivering the contents directly into the air transfer portion of the system which converges the separate discharge streams into a single point of collection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Following utilization of an air seeder for the distribution of seeds and fertilizers across a field, there typically is an unspent supply of materials remaining within the hopper. Presently available air seeders typically provide for the removal of the unspent materials by having some sort of passage extending downwardly from the bottom of the hopper which may be opened for gravitational drainage of the unspent materials therethrough and to the ground.
Specific prior practices include an air seeder having a funnel-shaped hopper which has a bottom aperture that may be opened for draining the seeds from the hopper into a horizontal tube. During normal operation of the air seeder, an air blower forces a stream of air into the horizontal tube for carrying a metered stream of seeds rearwardly through the tube for ultimate distribution to the ground. During draining of seeds from the hopper, however, no air is forced through the tube. Instead, the tube has a bottomost door directly beneath the hopper which can be opened for gravitational drainage of the seeds from the tube to the ground.
The cited prior practice has a number of problems or shortcomings. The single aperture which permits direct gravitational drainage of seeds from the hopper would not be practical for air seeders which utilize a plurality of meters for delivering a plurality of metered streams from the hopper. Such air seeders require a corresponding plurality of tubes for transporting the seed streams from the hopper for ultimate distribution to the ground, and as a result typically require a wide bottomed hopper to accommodate the pluarlity of meters and the plurality of tubes utilized. A single drainage aperture would not be adequate to drain the entire width of the hopper due to the particulate nature of the seeds or granular fertilizer which tends to resist flow. Furthermore, a series of gravitational drainage apertures located across the width of the hopper bottom for direct drainage of the seeds from the air seeder would result in a series of spaced-apart streams that would be somewhat difficult to collect into one mass of seeds for storage.
Consequently, a need exists for improvements in air seeder clean out devices which will accommodate air seeders having a plurality of metered streams and which will permit easy collection of the drained seeds into one mass for storage.